.45 P/B For Hunting

[cynthialee]

I would listen to these guys if I was you. I haven't shot a Red Deer or any other deer for that matter, but these men know their hunting and the pics they have posted over the years is the proof of their proficiency.

With that fast twist barrel you can use a heavier conical. Conical loading is supposed to be allot faster and easier than a PRB. So you need a new bullet supply or a new mold. Only the first setting of the conical past the muzzle is supposed to be 'hard', after it clears the muzzle just a slight push should be all that you need to seat the bullet. Use a tight fitting over bullet card and you shouldn't have an issue with the bullet creeping off the powder.

 

[satx78247]

Pardon me for offering "unasked for advice" BUT imVho, NO .45caliber ML is ADEQUATE for Red Deer beyond a maximum of 50M & may well NOT kill an animal of that size/"toughness" humanely at ANY range.
(IF it was me, I would buy/trade for .58 caliber, 20 bore or 16 bore rifle & "honorably retire" the .45 caliber rifle OR reserve it for smaller game.)

just my opinion, satx

 

[roundball]

So the .45 is what I`v got to work with and will work up loads for the 270gr bullet

For what it's worth, when I first started with sidelocks it was a T/C Hawken caplock, standard .45cal x 28" x 1:48" shallow groove barrel, and back then I used T/C's 255grn Maxi-Hunters the first two years. Extremely accurate with 100grns 2F and just devastating on a handful of our mid-Atlantic whitetails. 255grns is awfully close to 270grns...would think a heart or double lung shot would put down your red deer no problem.

 

[hanshi]

Oodles, means a chit load...


I've killed that many or more with a .440 ball with 65-75grs FFF Goex...

Of course it does. I got out my physics books and there, staring me in the face, was the definition you gave, nchawkeye.

As an aside, I've had more whitetails drop DRT from my hits with .45 round balls than from the various .50s I've used over the years. Max shot for a .45 was 75 yards and about 100 yards (twice) with a .50.

 

[BigBoreBLR]

This is my 2 cents.

Animals around 100kg would be fine with a 45 roundball.

If the red deer are closer to 150kg, then either buy a bigger gun, or use some sort of conical.

Bigger than 45, I'd probably use a conical even with a 50 cal. 54 cal and bigger roundball will do fine.

Either custom made guns with common straight wall barrels, or factory produced guns have an option.

As long as the outside dimensions is the same, you can probably buy a 50 or 54 cal barrel for the gun you have.

My 54 cal use roughly 230gr roundballs, its got some thump to her.

 

[homebrew .357]

Hi, Yes we do have Wapiti and are bigger than the reds, when I said loading the bullet was hard it is just getting it started into the barrel and after the short starter it slides down firmly on to a card over powder, no problem.
There are no M/L barrels made in NZ, that's why I made this gun myself for hunting and it only weighs 7.12 lbs, I know a .50/.54 M/L is a lot heaver to carry around the bush, but a lot of your hunting is done in a "Stand", plus tags , permits?,$$$$. In N Z you just get a permit to hunt in a national park, it`s free!, just got to get yourself into the bush to go hunting. My bullets are 7% tin/lead, not to hard, I did try lino type, couldn't get it in to the barrel.
So I will work up and test loads with the flat nosed 270g bullet and when I go for a hunt will try and put one in the boiler house of a large red deer, I just love this black stuff, ps, I do have a .308,@ .3030, but the Hawken will do it. :thumbsup: Cheers all, homebrew.357

 

[Kapow]

Have a look at some of the stuff posted by Idaho Ron recently. He worked up some paper patched bullet loads for a .45 and was deadly with it.

You want to drive those conicals as hard as you can. Consider using pure lead for optimal expansion and they will be kinder to your barrels. Despite what you have read here you would know that red deer are pretty soft for their size and don't take much to kill them.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I agree, a 45 PB should do the job fine as long as you do yours. How big are the deer critters in your neck of the woods?

A few may get bigger but 145 lbs. for a decent buck is about as big as one will see. In some parts of the state where there is grain farming (soybeans, corn, etc.) they produce some monsters but not in the Ozark forests.

 

[BigBoreBLR]

Barrel weight. Actuall the opposite is true.

Most muzzleloaders are made from 15/16" octagon barrels. When you make a 45 cal hole in the octagon blank, you remove less material than a 50 cal would.

Some makers use a bigger barrel for the 54 cal, some do not.

More times than not, a 45 cal factory gun uses the same externally sized barrel as a 50 or 54 cal version.

If this is true, your 45 cal gun can weigh 1/2 ro 3/4's of a pound more than the same gun offered in 50 or 54.

 

[homebrew .357]

Hi Fools Sulphur, That`s a good point, but I think my barrel being only 25" long and most are 30"-34" long, this is where the weigh comes from in the (real) ones and not this Kiwi made one.
And the lite weight will mean more kick when I feed it a stiff load, could take the wife to the range,(have a shot dear) :nono: . Yea, probably git :slap: , well just trying dear, :idunno:
Cheers ,homebrew.357.